Armoring pneumatic tires.



C. M. GAUTIER.

ARMORING PNEUMATICTIRES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, I914.

1,143,265. v Patented June 15, 1915.

aura anion.

ARMORING PNEUMATIC TIRES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 915.

Applicationflled .Tune 27, 1914. Seria-1lto.847,721.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE MARIE Gan TIER, a citizen of the FrenchRepublic, residing at Putney, London, England, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in the Armoring of Pneumatic Tires, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to the armoring ofpneumatic tires and has for its object to provide means whereby tiresarmored with chains placed transversely to the tread may be betterprotected. If chains are laid side by side and carried straight acrossthe tread whether diagonally to the circumferential line or atright-angles to the same, it will be appreciated that gaps occur betweenthe chains which increase in width toward, and reach their maximum widthat, the center of the tread, so that even if the chains are put closetogether at the beads they are gaping at the tread, whereas it is at thetread that the greatest protection is required. To obviate this defectit is proposed, according to the present invention, to arrangethe'chains so that the angle at which they lie to the circumferentialdirection of the tire becomes more acute toward the center of the tread,the acuteness increasing to a maximum at the said center to evenly coverthe whole area with the chain.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one method of carrying outthis invention :Fig"ure 1 shows the arrangement of chains on aflattened-out tire-cover; Fig. 2 is a diagram; Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of part of a tire broken away to show the arrangement of thechain, and Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective View through a tire alongthe line of one of the chains.

The same letters indicate the same parts throughout the drawings.

In Fig. l, the tire A is shown flattened out and broken away toillustrate the course taken by the chains B. It will be observed thatthese are laid close together at the bead A and start from thenceapproximately at right-angles to the bead but turn off toward the rightat an increasingly acute angle with the center line cva2 of the treaduntil having crossed this line, they turn off to the left with adecreasing acuteness of angle, and finally meet the opposite bead Aapproximately at right-angles once more. By this arrangement each chainwhich if carried across the tread at right-angles to the same would onlycover a portion of the tread equal to its own width, covers a portiongreater than its own width, because part of the length of the chain ismade to cover the tread as well as its width. This is clearly shown inthe diagram, Fig. 2, where a chain is indicated at B and the line bindicates the width of the chain throughout, whereas the lines 5 6 b areparallel to the circumferential line of the tread and obviously increasein length as the acuteness of the angle of the chain relatively to thetread increases. The portion of the chain containing the line b is shownat an angle of to the center line, whereas the portion containing theline b is at 50 thereto and the line b is longer than the line b;similarly the portion of chain contained in the line b is at 40 to thecenter line and the line b is again longer than the line 6 In thismanner the gaps which would occur between the chain lengths owing to theincrease of the circumference toward the tread if the chain lengths werecarried straight across from one head to the other, are filled up andthe whole area of the tire becomes evenly covered. In addition to thischange of angle relatively to the circumferential line of the tire, eachchain length is preferablyltwisted about its longitudinal aXis as it islaid, so that starting with the links on edge as shown at the head A inFig. 3, the chain is turned over so that its side is inclined upward outof the upright position relatively to the base-material A whereon itlies, and thisv twisting permits the chain to be laid close against thebase-material throughout its whole length. K

It will be appreciated that the chain being more or less stiff could notbe made to take the sinuous form shown in Fig. 1 and at the same timelie flat against the basematerial unless so twisted, although thetwisting could of course be avoided if the links were made sufiicientlyfree relatively to one another in a lateral direction.

At the end of each chain length, a V- shaped anchoring-piece C may beprovided, one arm of the anchoring-piece being carried down parallel tothe inner face of the tire and the other entered into the bead beneaththat portion which lies under the overturned lip of the rim when thetire is in place. provided with canvas layers A which further secure thearm C in the bead. Each The bead at this portionmay be 1m arm C may beprovided with projections a to give it an additional hold in thematerial of the tire.

Obviously more than one layer of chains may be employed and the chainsof one layer may lie across those of the other.

In order to obtain a firm connection between the chains B and the rubberof the tread, a layer oftextile material D, such as canvas, ispreferably placed between the rubber of the tread and the chains, andfastening means are employed for connecting the chains to the canvas,such as staples D which embrace each chain and have their ends pushedthrough and interlocked with the canvas. I

Although the best effect is obtained by laying the chairs closetogether, it will be appreciated that they may be separated throughouttheir length if desired though kept parallel with one another by thechange of angle already described.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. A protective cover for pneumatic tires, comprising a pluralityofchains placed side by side within the cover, and a layer of textilematerial Within the cover below the chains, said chains extendingtransversely to the tread of the tire at an oblique angle to thecircumferential line of the tire, said angle increasing in acutenessfrom the sides toward the center and being of maxnnum acuteness at thecenter, each chain being twisted about its longitudinal axis as thechain approaches the center of the tread and twisted back as it recedesfrom the center on the other side of the tire, so that the chain liesclose to the textile material, substantially as described.

2. A protective cover for pneumatic tires, comprising a plurality ofchains placed side by side within the cover, a layer of textile materialwithin the cover below the chains, said chains extending transversely tothe tread of the tire at an oblique angle to the circumferential line ofthe tire, said angle increasing in acuteness from the sides to ward thecenter and being of maximum acuteness at the center, each chain beingtwisted about its longitudinal axis as the chain approaches the centerof the tread and twisted back as it recedes from the center on the otherside of the tire, so that the Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressing the (iommissioner of Patents, Washington,D. C.

